Irrigation

What a beautiful day to finish off the work week. Some good temperatures and a nice breeze have given the golf course and the staff some relief from what has been a really hot stretch. I’m very pleased with how the golf course has handled the heat so far. The rain last night was good for the course and gives it a nice break from the heat for a couple days. Through the really hot days, there is no doubt that you have seen our team on the course watering with hoses. An irrigation system, no matter how good, will…

With all the rain we’ve had lately, the requirement for irrigation watering has been minimal. In fact, I don’t recall a year when we have had to use less irrigation water this far into the season. On a positive note, the reservoir pond is completely full. On the other hand, this quantity of water does bring its fair share of challenges. There are days when we haven’t been able to cut fairways and roughs. This significantly affects the playability as it takes a couple of days to catch up, and roughs can get pretty long. It also makes it harder…

The short game area will be officially open Saturday the morning of May 13. This year it took a little bit longer because of the cooler temperatures. Now that the bentgrass seed is germinating, the short game area will be able to recover from the traffic. With all the rain from last weekend, it has shown where we have deficiencies in our drainage. On an older property like this one, fixing and/or adding drains can be very time consuming and take a lot of planning. We will certainly do our very best to address some of these areas. This week we were…

As we move into the middle of October the weather seems to be changing quickly. The course has received a significant amount of rain over the last week causing very wet conditions. The greens have the potential to be soft throughout the fall so remember to repair your ball marks and replace your divots as damage to the course now will be visible in the spring. Leaf maintenance will be difficult over the next few days because the wet turf. The staff is hard at work blowing leaves daily but some areas are just too wet to maintain without causing…

Fall has arrived and that means leaves, leaves and more leaves. Over the next few weeks we will work hard on keeping the playing surfaces clear of leaves. The process will be to blow leaves into wind rows along the tree lines and mulch as many leaves as we can with the rough mowers. During the next few weeks I ask for your patience as the blowers will be running throughout the day. This can be a messy time of year for the turf as we try to mulch leaves and mow the turf during constant wet conditions. To minimize…

Will it ever rain? I stopped asking myself that question a couple weeks ago after I came to the realization that one rain will not be enough. We need a couple days of rain. Until then we continue to water with hoses and stretch our irrigation intervals out as long as we can. The biggest need for the turf is for the humidity to drop for a few days for the turf to get some recovery. When it is this humid for long stretches the turf stays damp at the surface and that is when the wear and tear begins,…

As I sit here writing the course update this morning, I'm watching a sprinkle of rain come down. I was hoping for something more like a downpour but, unfortunately, it didn’t come. Yesterday the rain hit north of us and this morning it is hitting west and south of the club. One of these days we will get a nice all-day rain and everything will come alive. Managing the turf through these dry spells takes numerous staff on hand-hoses watering localized dry spots. By applying the water with a hose you get direct penetration to the area, helping the turf…

The weather over the last couple weeks has helped the turf begin to grow through the winter desiccation. The roughs are finally starting to bounce back and the minor winter damage has almost all disappeared. Fairways and tees are filling in nicely and the greens are rounding into shape for a great season ahead. The greens are starting to mature, becoming denser and firmer, but I would like to remind everyone one of the key practices to minimize poa encroachment is to repair your ballmark. By repairing your ballmark you eliminate a void for the poa to establish, this is…

It has been a long season for the golf course with the completion of the greens rebuild and practice facility. The year started off with severe ice damage to the entire golf course, especially the old poa greens. With the hard work of the construction company and the entire maintenance staff we were able to build and grow-in 20 new USGA bentgrass greens. It is now that time of year where the turf team begins the winter preparation of the golf course. With the cold, wet weather we've had over the last week and the long range forecast at our…

The past week has been productive in the turf department. We have finished sodding around the new cart paths and repaired some wear areas around some other paths. Please follow the directional posts blocking these areas until they have time to root and handle cart traffic. The turf team finished a couple of drainage issues that were occurring on #2, 3 and 4. New pipes were installed on #3 giving the water a place to go drying the area up. A broken greens drainage pipe on the right side of #2 green was repaired and brought further down the hill,…

Islington Golf Club

Conveniently located in Toronto and tucked into historical Islington Village and the Mimico Creek valley, Islington Golf Club is a challenging 18-hole, par 72 golf course with tree-lined, parkland-style golf holes, rolling terrain, and the meandering Mimico Creek. Visit our website at www.islingtongolfclub.com.